Article by Victoria Carson
Sleep disorder symptoms vary and people with disorders don’t even know they have a problem and walking around with undiagnosed sleep disorders. They may feel sleepy during the day and trouble sleeping at night or staying asleep. They look and feel tired all the time and may experience mood swings, irritable and emotional. They often experience lack of concentration, forgetfulness and difficulty paying attention. All of these could be signs of sleep deprivation or disorder.
When you ask a person with an undiagnosed sleep disorder symptom what they are experiencing, often you will hear one or more of the following answers:
- I have trouble falling asleep
- I have trouble staying asleep
- I have difficulty getting up in the morning
- My family tells me I do strange things in my sleep
- My partner keeps me awake
The specific answer helps specialists to narrow down and diagnose the right sleep disorder symptom.
Sleep latency is a sleep disorder symptom where people who have it have difficulty falling asleep when they go to bed. It can also mean they wake up in the middle of the night and are unable to fall asleep again.
Serious forms of sleep latency include sleep onset insomnia, delayed sleep phase disorder, shift work, restless leg syndrome or paradoxical insomnia.
Sleep fragmentation is another sleep disorder symptom where a person is not able to stay asleep. People with this disorder can fall asleep easily, but wake up many times throughout the night
Still yet another sleep disorder symptom is sleep maintenance insomnia or shift work where one is able to fall asleep alright but will wake up in the middle of the night and unable to fall asleep again. This is usually an advanced sleep phase disorder.
Narcolepsy is another sleep disorder where one cannot stay awake. A person with this disorder can fall asleep at the drop of a hat and often at inappropriate times. This group also includes such disorders as obstructive or central sleep apnea, periodic limb movement disorder, restless leg syndrome, shift work or advanced sleep phase disorder.
With excessive sleep inertia, another sleep disorder symptom, people are unable or have difficulty waking up from sleep. They have difficulty making the transition from sleep state to fully awake and can take an hour or two to become fully awake. Sleep apnea and delayed sleep phase disorders are also included in this group.
Some of the strange things people do in their sleep include sleepwalking, sleep terrors, arousals, REM sleep behavior disorder, nightmares, sleep-related eating disorders and bruxism are all types of sleep disorders known as parasomnias.
People who blame their partner’s snoring for their inability to sleep don’t realize that they may have any one or more of sleep apnea, bruxism, restless leg syndrome or periodic limb movement disorder for their problem.
Whichever group you belong, you need professional help. Everyone experiences sleeplessness sometime due to day to day struggles, financial burdens, death of loved ones and so many other situations. These are temporary situations and not disorders.
If you have any of these sleep disorder symptoms help is available.
About the Author
Victoria Carson has a background in the health sciences and interested in helping people with sleep disorder and weight issues. The two issues are connected and many sleep deprivation causes can be solved by watching your diet and nutrition. To find more information about how to sleep better at night, visit: http://www.SleepingInToday.com